Railroad Commission may get new name, one elected commissioner

Associated PressMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 4:25 pm, Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A Texas panel has recommended changing the name of the Railroad Commission of Texas.

The 120-year-old agency long ago gave up having anything to do with trains. Rather, it is responsible for overseeing oil and gas exploration and development activities and more than 350,000 miles of pipelines.

The Sunset Advisory Commission says lawmakers should change the name to the state Oil and Gas Commission. The panel also recommended on Wednesday that the agency be led by one official elected statewide, rather than the three commissioners who have led the agency historically.

"I applaud Chairman (State Sen. Glenn) Hegar and the Sunset Commission members for their decision placing the authority and responsibility of America's premier state energy agency in the hands of a single statewide elected official," said Michael Williams, chairman of the Railroad Commission, in a statement. "Texans will get undivided leadership, direction and accountability. Smaller, cheaper, faster government will save taxpayer dollars. The Railroad Commission will become an even stronger advocate for American energy security. I'm confident this is in the best interest of Texas."

Newly-elected Railroad Commissioner David Porter issued a statement stressing his opposition to the vote.

"Today, the Sunset Advisory Commission met to discuss proposed changes to the Texas Railroad Commission -- the state's regulatory body over the energy industry. While this is just the second step in a very lengthy legislative process, some of the recommendations are drastic, namely the complete restructuring of the RRC from the top down," Porter stated. "The current structure of three commissioners provides a reliable system of checks and balances in the regulation of the state's most important industry. This structure allows for diverse opinions when making important decisions that affect all Texans. It also prevents politicalization of the day-to-day operations of the agency. The actual result of today's recommendation would be to vacate the votes of millions of Texans cast over the last three election cycles. I was recently elected to this office with nearly 60 percent of the vote -- votes that should count -- and intend to serve the people of Texas in the job they elected me to do."

Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, said from Austin, where he was attending the first days of the 82nd Texas Legislative Session, that he and other industry groups would prefer to see the Railroad Commission continue to be overseen by three elected commissioners with a "resign to run" clause requiring the commissioners to resign if they want to run for another elected office. Two of the commissioners, he noted, are running for the U.S. Senate.

With Williams' support of the change to one elected commissioner, Shepperd said, "I don't know how strongly we can fight (to keep three)."

Ken Levine, director of the Sunset Commission, said the panel, comprised of six state senators and six state representatives, voted to adopt most of the other recommendations made by the commission staff last November.

"They did adopt the recommendation that the industry pay the costs of operating the regulatory programs at what may be the Oil and Gas Commission," Levine said. Noting that some in the industry were concerned over the impact the recommendation the agency become self-funding would have on the Oil Field Cleanup Fund used to plug and clean up abandoned well sites, Levine said the staff recommendation "combined the two purposes so it's dedicated to and used for agency purposes. The money going into the clean-up fund will continue to go to the clean-up fund and other money will go to other uses."

The recommendations approved by the panel will now be put into legislation to be put before lawmakers.

"It's too early in the process to tell what will happen," Shepperd said.